🚀 go-pugleaf

A little more info, I got to see the screen this time after
the abend:

  Page Fault Processor Exception (error code 01700000)
  Running Process: Interrupt Service Routine (nested count 2)

I cannot find the error code listed in the Novell docs.
Additionally, the "?" command in the console debugger shows:

  Address in SERVER.NLM at code start +00025080h
  Current 00000000 F8025080
  Next +0000B1FF F803027F EXVMGTFX.NLM|VMGetDirectoryEntry

... and the running process

  Running process: FB007000 Server 02 Process

Also another 8 Meg had been added for a total of 24, cache buffers
running around 61%.  Once again, any insight into this problem
(which did not occur when we were using the VLM client software!)
would be *greatly* appreciated!

--
     Bob Alpert
     alpert@netaxs.com

Quoting from: alpert@netaxs.com (Robert Alpert)

 > A little more info, I got to see the screen this time after
 > the abend:

 >   Page Fault Processor Exception (error code 01700000)
 >   Running Process: Interrupt Service Routine (nested count 2)

TechDoc  : Abend -> Polling process
Composer : Ecl@inter.NL.net (LESi)
Targets  : NetWare *.*
Keywords : Polling process abends
Revision : Fri  04-08-1995

Reasons for an Abend on Polling process (i.e. Running Process: Interrupt
Service Routine)

1) Not all required patches loaded or loaded in the wrong .ncf file
2) Insufficient server memory
3) Eventhough enough memory, fragmented memory pools due to SYS: mounting
   before all memory was registered (>16mB)
4) Energy save feature(s) enabled in servers PC bios
5) Keyboard bios bugged (is a different chip then system bios)
6) Using a flacky/invalid IRQ on the server NIC (i.e. irq 2/9 - irq 14/15)
7) A flacky third party (backup?) nlm
8) Overheating (inside server or harddisk(s) case(s))
9) Static interferance via extended cables
10) Outdated pserver.nlm
11) Server NIC going bad
12) Server has been downed and started without a hard reset

And ofcourse, a real new OS bug is also possible.

-- 
Ecl@inter.NL.net, Home of (c)PciMail and (c)PciNews
Post Office Box 9179, 3007 AD  Rotterdam  The Netherlands
Ftp Home Site: ftp://sodapop.cc.LaTech.edu/pub/novell/specials/
A.I. & Expert Technology, System Security Expertise/ICSE, ACE, NetWare
# Non-standard-disclaimer, I only speak for those who pay me enough. #

Robert Alpert (alpert@netaxs.com) wrote:
:   Address in SERVER.NLM at code start +00025080h
:   Current 00000000 F8025080
:   Next +0000B1FF F803027F EXVMGTFX.NLM|VMGetDirectoryEntry

: ... and the running process

:   Running process: FB007000 Server 02 Process

This is very very interesting. We have five Intel Deskside/MX
Pentium servers which suffers from the same PFPE abend running 
Server nn. The 410IT5 patch has helped but not cured the 
problem: the servers abends once per week, before that they 
abended a couple of times per day.

--Teo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teo Kirkinen                                 Teo.Kirkinen@Helsinki.FI
University of Helsinki, Computing Centre         

Our troublesome Netware 4.1 server has been running fine for some time now
with an NE2000 type card in place of the Accton EN1200 EISA card.  Long
enough to consider the crashing problem "fixed" or at least worked around.
(We were getting server abends several times per day.)

I called Accton technical support and was told that we were suffering
from EISA bus latency, which they referred to as an EISA design defect.
(We also have a DTC 3290 EISA SCSI host adapter in the system.)  We
were told that there are three options:

  1.  Use a 16-bit NIC (which we are currently doing);
  2.  Get a faster CPU (doesn't look feasible in this system,
      an Intel X-Series Deskside with 486DX/50 CPU);
  3.  Change to PCI (meaning purchase a complete new server,
      not an option for us).

What Accton support was saying (they went into gruesome detail regarding
timing and events on the EISA bus) basically seemed to make sense sense
but I am frankly not a low-level hardware guru.  Anyone else run into this
kind of problem running two EISA cards together in the same system? 
Although we're running stably now, having the NE2000 in the system is
making things a little bit slower overall. 

--
     Bob Alpert
     alpert@netaxs.com